Gregory Matters, R.I.P.

[eurowing]

A tragic end indeed.


http://bc.ctvnews.ca/man-killed-by-police-in-prince-george-identified-1.953293


The man shot and killed during a confrontation with RCMP in Prince George, B.C. Monday has been identified.

The BC Coroners Service said 40-year-old Gregory Matters of Prince George was killed in a stand-off with RCMP.

Police said Matters was the subject of a police investigation, and on Monday Mounties located him at his property on Pinko Road.

Cpl. Craig Douglass said an altercation at the scene led to the suspect being shot and killed.

Court documents show Matters received one day in jail and nine month’s probation after being convicted for uttering threats in June 2011. He was also prohibited from carrying weapons following a suspended sentence for uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm in 2010.

CTV News also learned Matters served as a peacekeeper in Bosnia and was eventually given a medical discharge due to a disability. Family members said he was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The investigation into the death will be the first for the new Independent Investigations Office, which probes serious complaints against police in the province.

The office sent a team of 10 investigators up to the shooting site hours after learning of the death



Read more: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/man-killed-by-police-in-prince-george-identified-1.953293#ixzz26N31b2lV

 

[Journeyman]

......which probes serious complaints against police in the province.

The office sent a team of 10 investigators up to the shooting site hours after learning of the death

Was there a complaint, or is this merely pre-emptive bureaucratic buttock-coverage....requiring TEN investigators?

 

[bridges]

A sad end, indeed.  My condolences to Gregory Matters' friends and loved ones. 

 

[Privateer]

The news article (as quoted above) is incorrect in its statement of why the Independent Investigations Office is involved.  The IIO, and not regular peace officers, is the authority which now has the jurisdiction to conduct an investigation where:  "a person may have died or suffered serious harm as a result of the actions of an officer, whether on or off duty".  It is not dependent on a complaint from the public.  When a police officer shoots someone, the IIO is the body which conducts the investigation.

 

[Journeyman]

That makes more sense. Thanks.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

And the IIO just stood up officially a few hours before this shooting. This is their first case and only case, so I would imagine they have bodies to throw at it.

 

[Occam]

The news article (as quoted above) is incorrect in its statement of why the Independent Investigations Office is involved.  The IIO, and not regular peace officers, is the authority which now has the jurisdiction to conduct an investigation where:  "a person may have died or suffered serious harm as a result of the actions of an officer, whether on or off duty".  It is not dependent on a complaint from the public.  When a police officer shoots someone, the IIO is the body which conducts the investigation.

Similar to the SIU in Ontario?

 

[Container]

Same sort of thing as SIU. Except that the SIU never hired former CBC journalists as investigators.


IIO has......but yeah this is standard now in BC.

 

[Journeyman]

Except that the SIU never hired former CBC journalists as investigators.

Oh, so the police are automatically guilty.....but it's Harper's fault. 

 

[GAP]

Oh, so the police are automatically guilty.....but it's Harper's fault. 

Welllll.....like, YEEEAH  :

 

[McBrush]

I live in Prince George and here is what the news paper is saying. Lots of info flying around on the streets, so I do not pay any attention to it.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120913/PRINCEGEORGE0101/120919994/-1/princegeorge/i-am-a-good-person

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120913/PRINCEGEORGE0101/120919993/-1/princegeorge/matters-was-close-to-family

 

[JorgSlice]

I live in Prince George and here is what the news paper is saying. Lots of info flying around on the streets, so I do not pay any attention to it.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120913/PRINCEGEORGE0101/120919994/-1/princegeorge/i-am-a-good-person

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120913/PRINCEGEORGE0101/120919993/-1/princegeorge/matters-was-close-to-family

Such a sad story 

His true identity as a kind, loving, family man turned sour by PTSD/OSI. It wasn't his fault that he was aggressive, nor was it the RCMP's fault he got shot. The OSI altered his state of mind into something he wasn't, and the RCMP had to de-escalate the threat. He was at war with himself and the RCMP had a job to do, That's the way I see it anyway. Pending completion of investigation however, will determine if in fact they had no other choice. We need more people, more organizations to lobby for better Mental Health care and research for current and former CF members and more MH workers. This was a hard one to read, almost brewed up a tear or two.

I don't want to sound morbid or anything but, at least now his mind and soul is at peace. 

 

[McBrush]

The funeral was yesterday. This is what was in the paper today. There was a good turn out from the community.


http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120928/PRINCEGEORGE0101/309289973/-1/princegeorge/-39-one-day-we-will-meet-you-in-the-stars-39

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120928/PRINCEGEORGE0101/309289968/-1/princegeorge/sister-39-s-eulogy-for-greg-matters-in-her-own-words

 

[bridges]

"...a new type of unknown fallen solider exists - those who die of psychological wounds they picked up when they were serving." 

(reproduced in part under the Fair Dealings provision of the Copyright Act)http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120928/PRINCEGEORGE0101/309289973/-1/princegeorge/-39-one-day-we-will-meet-you-in-the-stars-39 

Yep.

That eulogy and report are interesting, and moving.  Thanks for sharing them, McBrush.

 

[mariomike]

September 24, 2013

"Canadian Government to award Memorial Cross to family of Canadian veteran killed by RCMP":
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/canadian-government-award-memorial-cross-family-canadian-veteran-killed-rcmp-1834378.htm

"A Coroner's Inquest into the death of Greg Matters will be held in Prince George during the week of October 7 to 12, 2013."

 

[The Bread Guy]

"A Coroner's Inquest into the death of Greg Matters will be held in Prince George during the week of October 7 to 12, 2013."

Coming out of day one ....

Imagine what it was like for a former peacekeeper and soldier when police burst onto the man’s property in the moments prior to his death, unannounced and heavily armed, a lawyer for Greg Matters’s family asked of a coroner’s jury Monday.

Matters was fatally shot by a member of the RCMP emergency response team on his rural property near Prince George, B.C., in September 2012.

“Consider as you hear the evidence unfold, what the effect on Mr. Matters … alone in his farmhouse when four heavily armed members of the police force wearing camouflage fatigues entered and a helicopter circles overhead…,” Cameron Ward said ....